Olekaibe provides lift for Rebels in win over Colorado State

On a night when things were starting to unravel for UNLV, coach Dave Rice knew at least one of his players wouldn’t panic.

Senior guard Kevin Olekaibe has played enough college basketball to know that runs are part of the game, so when Colorado State cut the Rebels’ 56-44 lead to 62-61 with 9:23 remaining, he knew what to do.

Olekaibe went to the right side of the floor, patiently waited for the ball to swing to him and hit a jump shot. The basket was part of a 9-0 run that got the lead back to double digits, 71-61, en route to a 78-70 victory Wednesday night before an announced crowd of 13,682 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“He’s a fantastic shooter, and I want Kevin to shoot every time when his feet are set,” Rice said. “He may have rushed a couple of shots, but most of the looks Kevin got were good looks, and if he gets those same looks Saturday when we play Air Force, I have no doubt he’ll make most of them.”

UNLV (18-10, 9-6 Mountain West) was coming off a devastating 91-90 overtime loss Saturday at Boise State and needed someone to pick them up. Olekaibe, a former Cimarron-Memorial High School star, made sure the job got done.

“I told them that we needed to be consistent and stay together,” said Olekaibe, who scored 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting. “In games like this, you know there are going to be runs, and we were able to answer them.”

Olekaibe said the 9-0 response showed that the Rebels had put Boise State behind them.

“It was important to keep fighting through the adversity,” he said. “The guys did a good job of answering Colorado State’s run.”

Rice said having Olekaibe’s presence on the floor proved to be invaluable.

“I can’t say enough about Kevin Olekaibe’s leadership,” Rice said. “After a tough loss at Boise, he stepped up in our locker room. He does everything right on and off the court. He’s the most positive guy on this team. It’s the quality of his character.”

Olekaibe, who transferred to UNLV after three years at Fresno State because of his father’s declining health, knows time is running out on his college career, with three regular-season games remaining before the postseason. So he is cherishing every minute.

“I can think back to my freshman year and what I did and how special everything has been for me,” he said. “But I know it’s winding down, and I’m going to continue to play hard and fight.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.